Make a command run every 5 minutes...

[MattWray]

I am trying to get a command to run every 5 minutes. It is for a Bandwidth Monitor, MRTG.
If I run the command, /usr/local/mrtg-2.9.2/bin/mrtg /home/httpd/mrtg/mrtg.cfg The files in the mrtg dir are updated.
The website with instructions said to add a line to /etc/crontab. The first line I tried was 0-59/5 * * * * root /usr/local/mrtg-2.9.2/bin/mrtg /home/httpd/mrtg/mrtg.cfg
That didn't work so I changed it to 0,5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55 * * * * root /usr/local/mrtg-2.9.2/bin/mrtg /home/httpd/mrtg/mrtg.cfg
Still no dice. I just need to make this command /usr/local/mrtg-2.9.2/bin/mrtg /home/httpd/mrtg/mrtg.cfg run every 5 minutes.
Please help!

Thanks,

Matt Wray
MCSE, MCSA, MCP, CCNA

http://www.sss-steel.com

http://www.total-tec.com

 

[MattWray]

I got it. When I typed crontab -e ,it said opening empty container. But if I ran vi crontab from the /etc dir, it would open. I added the lines in the /etc dir cron. Must have been the wrong one, I tried crontab -e, made a new cron file for root, added my line, saved it and it is now running.
Hope this can help someone else!

Thanks,

Matt Wray
MCSE, MCSA, MCP, CCNA

http://www.sss-steel.com

http://www.total-tec.com

 

[newmangj]

mattwary

Just a tip, because you are running Linux you don't have to specify each 5 minute interval in your crontab, you can specify each 5 minutes like this

*/5 * * * * command_name

It works the same as your entry but it's just a bit tidier.

For more details refer to the man page for crontab in section 5 (man -S5 crontab)

Cheers

 

[MattWray]

Thank you. I am still new to Linux and learning as I go.
Thanks for the tip!

Thanks,

Matt Wray
MCSE, MCSA, MCP, CCNA

http://www.sss-steel.com

http://www.total-tec.com